Ohio first state to accept Bitcoin for business tax payments

Ohio plans to become the first U.S. state and also among the first governments in the world to accept cryptocurrency. The state will accept Bitcoin payments for 23 types of business taxes starting November 26.

The Ohio State plans to offer Bitcoin as a means to paying state taxes via the payment service BitPay. According to the Ohio Treasurer’s website, there will be 23 types of business taxes available for payment in crypto. These include sales tax, utility tax, as well as employee withholdings. The official reason for choosing Bitcoin as a form of tax payment is their low cost, security, and transparency:

“Cryptocurrencies cannot be transferred to third parties without user initiation, thereby practically eliminating fraud; Anyone can view all transactions on the blockchain network; Payments on the blockchain can be tracked on a second-by-second basis; a minimal fee is charged to confirm transactions on the blockchain network.”

It also seems like the Ohio State plans to use other crypto coins for their tax payment options. According to the website, “the Treasurer’s office looks forward to adding more cryptocurrencies in the future.”

On top of that, Ohio is focused on expanding their blockchain technology sector. The Treasurer’s Office stated that they are “working to help make Ohio a national leader in blockchain technology.”

There has been a lot of criticism surrounding Bitcoin as many believe it’s not a viable solution for performing payments considering the digital asset to be slow and costly.

However, Ohio’s latest move shows that cryptocurrencies indeed can help governments become more transparent, efficient, and secure.